Summary
Fibrinogen plays a central role in surface-induced thrombosis. However, the interactions
of fibrinogen with different substrata remain poorly understood because of the difficulties
involved in imaging globular proteins under aqueous conditions. We present detailed
three dimensional molecular scale images of fibrinogen molecules on a hydrophobic
surface under aqueous conditions obtained by atomic force microscopy. Hydrated fibrinogen
monomers are visualized as overlapping ellipsoids; dimers and trimers have linear
conformations predominantly, and increased affinity for the hydrophobic surface compared
with monomeric fibrinogen. The results demonstrate the importance of hydration on
protein structure and properties that affect surface-dependent interactions.